


Christmas Must Be Something More

by PaigeTico



Series: xXFallenstarXx's BuckyNat Secret Santa gifts 2016 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Shopping, F/M, Fluff, I suppose, Romantic Fluff, Slice of Life, guys i may have gifted this to the wrong person, lots of fluff, theres two of them with the same name so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 03:36:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9216821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaigeTico/pseuds/PaigeTico
Summary: James and Natalia go Christmas shopping..





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whiskeyjack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiskeyjack/gifts).



> For the BuckyNat Secret Santa 2016.

_'Wake the fuck up!'_

That's the first thing James hears upon waking up. Actually, it's this that wakes him up. Natalia's head appears in his line of vision, still blurry from sleep. 'I would prefer you not to swear when waking me up,' he mumbles. 'Actually, I'd prefer you not to wake me up at all. Until at least lunchtime.' 

She snorts. 'You're one to talk. You cuss like a sailor. Honestly, I don't know how Steve could even stand to be in your presence all those years.' 

James supposes that this is some inside joke that he's not in on, because if his memory serves him(which it doesn't always, because of HYDRA repeatedly messing with his brain) Steve swears enough on a regular basis to kill small animals.

Natalia barrels on. 'And I would never have let you sleep past six o' clock. If I was a little less nice than I am now, I'd have woken you up at three.' She looks expectantly at James, but he doesn't get it. What is she doing? Some obscure Russian tradition that he'd forgotten? An annual ritual performed by the Avengers? He glances at the calendar hanging on the wall, but the date isn't remarkable. December 17th. No public holidays, no events. 

'We're going Christmas shopping!' Natalia yells. 

***

'We'll start with buying presents for whoever we hate the least and work towards people we despise because by then we'll have run out of money and will have to buy some cheap crappy card in place of an actual present for whoever is unlucky enough to be the last person we buy presents for,' says Natalia, tugging her scarf tighter around her face as a cold draft blows into the square. It still never ceases to amaze him just how different New York is from the thirties. Winter makes it seem more ethereal and mystical, and that's something that _has_ stayed the same. 

'You know, ' muses James, 'I once saw something about deciding how much money to spend on each person when doing Christmas shopping. Basically you pick the person who you're willing to spend the least money on, then decide how much _more_ than that person you're willing to spend for each person left, add them up and take them from your total budget, then divide what's left by how many people you have to buy stuff for and add the result to how much more you'd spend on them individually. So, like, I would spend the least on Stark, probably, for ripping off my arm. I'd spend one more dollar on Thor and Banner because I don't really know them—'

'Okay!' interrupts Natalia. 'Thank you for the math lesson, Professor Barnes.'

'It was on Steve's blog!' says James in defense. 

'Steve is a nerd, and so are you,' she replies flippantly. 

'Love you too, Natalia.' 

She rolls her eyes. 'Let's shop!' 

They did, in the end, use Natalia's strategy. They first bought presents for each other. 'It's supposed to be a surprise, isn't it?' protests James, but he doesn't mean it. He actually likes knowing what he'll get for Christmas because it takes away the element of surprise and James has definitely had enough surprises for a lifetime. He buys Natalia a pair of steel butterfly knives in one of the shadier alleyways of New York, and she gets him a set of throwing stars. 'You shouldn't have,' she says playfully, and he kisses her in reply, tucking a loose, snow-dusted strand of red hair behind her ear. 

They don't get weapons for the rest of the Avengers, however. James buys an art tablet for Steve, after at least half an hour of studying and comparing different models. He doesn't bother getting anything for Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, Vision or Rhodes, trusting that Natalia will write 'From Natasha and Bucky' on whatever she gets them. Sam, he decides, should get a budgie. Natalia agrees that this would be quite amusing. 

Natalia splurges on Clint's present but James gets him something anyways (a cannon keychain that doubles as a stamp that reads ‘Barton’). Scott Lang gets a calendar with high-definition prints of various insects, since he seems to be so fond of them and because he seems really disorganized most of the time and could definitely use it.

They're not sure what to get for Wanda, but in the end decide to buy her a Chinese jade pendant that is supposed to protect the wearer. Maybe she could enchant it to _actually_ protect the wearer. 

They know Sam is buying a cat for T'challa so they get some cat toys to go along with it. 

Finally, they buy a pack of Christmas cards. Apparently, some people are fans of the Avengers and have made merch with prints of them, which is odd, because James is fairly sure that he never had any pictures taken of him with the Avengers in recent years. They buy a set of cards with the team assembled, but James notes that Sharon and numerous others are missing, and decides to stick pictures in himself, although it’s Steve who has art talent and James will probably end up making a mess and botching it completely.

Natalia pitches in because they're running out of money at this point. Luckily, no one is unfortunate enough to get a cheap crappy card without receiving an actual present. (The cards were far from cheap, but they were worth it because someone had expertly photo-shopped Christmas hats on every member of the team, and had also given Tony Stark an impressive Santa Claus beard.)

On the bus home they sit side-by-side, surrounded by a fortress of shopping bags. He knows that, unfortunately, they are going to have to wrap each and every single present, as well as write Christmas cards.

Natalia is just a few inches shorter than James is—something that annoys her to no end, but it means that she's just the right height to rest her head on his shoulder and fall asleep, which is exactly what she does. He leans back and closes his eyes as well, basking in the gentle warmth of their love.


End file.
